Shacking Up

Kirk Donahue vs Mason Brooks, Wrestleshack 24 (BG East)

In a match seemingly meant to investigate each other's threshold of pain, Kirk and Mason take turns as sadist and masochist, their propensities for both roles having been hinted at in other battles but never brought together as they are here. Well matched in physique and tenacity, these men span the heel-babyface spectrum, delivering and withstanding nerve-searing extremes of abuse. Of course, one man must eventually rise above the other, but not before both have been pushed to their absolute limit. At times, the tormentor has to withstand pain equal to his victim's just for the satisfaction of knowing he has vanquished him.

 The Wrestleshack is, of course, an ideal setting for this ordeal. It's a tight, isolated fight space surrounded by greenery that muffles if not entirely obliterates the moans of the half-naked sufferers inside. It has a history of the sorts of mayhem ambitious young men pursue when they want to release pent-up energy or simply to indulge in some casual villainy. In short, it is the perfect site for an asskicking. This is new territory for Kirk Donahue, but Mason Brooks is well acquainted with the place. He gives his innocent-looking opponent a shove as they pass through the threshold.

Kirk plays innocent, but he's a cagey character with ambitions and quirks he prefers to keep to himself. He eyes Mason as most wrestlers closely observe their opponents before a fight, but he senses a kindred spirit here, too. As a few recently released matches have revealed, Kirk has a dark side that occasionally ignores the niceties of sportsmanship and savors the cold shiver of an adversary in pain. Mason, too, plays coy at first, but he isn't very good at concealing his taste for mischief. One could say he isn't very good, period. He invites Kirk to make the first move. Kirk does, but within seconds Kirk finds himself with his nose pressed to the mat and Mason sitting on the back of his head.

What Mason underestimates about Kirk is the doggedness with which he pursues his goals. He tolerates high levels of discomfort and hates - hates with a passion - to give up. He channels his pain into rage and a hunger for vengeance. Again and again, he refuses to tap out, even as Mason subjects him to insane levels of physical punishment. Mason likes to push joints and tendons to their limits with hammerlocks and stretches, causing his opponents immeasurable amounts of pain. Kirk writhes like an earthworm covered in fire ants, but he refuses to cave under duress, suspecting, often correctly, that his opponent can't maintain his grip. On this point, Kirk seriously underestimates Mason.

This contest rocks back and forth as each man wins a fall by submission but then finds the score evening up as he himself is forced to submit. However, great stretches of this fight are static, not in a dead standstill, but rather in an intense and equal deadlock involving two highly capable and hardy competitors who have tenacity to match their tempers. Both endure heinously long submission holds, just waiting for a chance to give back double what he has received. Eventually, ultimately, one breaks and the other doesn't, but by the time that happens, nerves are raw on both sides, and victory turns out to be as enervating as defeat.

[If any of this looks familiar, it's because I lifted it from the BGE catalog description. Not my usual m.o., but I was feeling naughty.]

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